Effects of environmental factors on growth traits in Makuie sheep

Abstract

The Makuie sheep is a fat-tailed sheep breed which can be found in the Azerbaijan province of Iran. non-genetic parameters obtained from data collected from 1993 to 2012 Makuie sheep research station of West Azerbaijan province in Iran were evaluated in the present study. The non-genetic parameters for birth weight, weaning weight (3 months), 6-month, 9-month and yearling weight traits were estimated based on 19 years of data using SAS software. Least squares means were 4.11? 0.88, 21.50?3.50, 27.18?3.53, 28.57?4.44 and 34.21?3.88 kg for weight at birth, 3, 6, 9 and 12 month, respectively. The birth year had a significant effect on all traits while the effect of birth type significantly affected all traits (p<0.05). The lamb's sex had a significant effect on all traits (p<0.05). The effect of dam?s age had a significant effect on all traits except 9- month (p<0.05). Results showed that non- genetic factors have an important role in expressing of genetic potential in the lambs.